


The Prospect of the New Year

by Simply_Isnt_On



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, I didn't see this coming, Regeneration, inebriation, late-night prompts man, they'll get you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 14:03:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/724109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simply_Isnt_On/pseuds/Simply_Isnt_On
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the prompt "Rose is either drunk or hungover." I didn't expect this either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Prospect of the New Year

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hostile17foundthetardis](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=hostile17foundthetardis).



It had been a long night. Long, long,  _long_  night. Never mind that it was New Year's, never mind that Mickey was standing right beside her holding her hand and cheering, and drinks had been free in the bar after someone decided, in a fit of drunkenness, to treat the whole crowd, regardless of acquaintanceship or lack thereof. 

 

Because all Rose Tyler could think of, as she watched the ball drop on the blurry telly behind the bar, and everyone screamed and Mickey snogged her drunkenly against the bar, was  _One more year._  One more year of inadequacy, one more year she hadn't gotten her A-levels, and she was working in the shop down the lane because that was all she could get with only a secondary school diploma.

 

Not like her mum could afford uni, bless her. She was working three part-time jobs, one of them as a sub-teacher in the local nursery school. And on top of that, Jackie Tyler still managed to find time for a boyfriend, and a sweet one at that, the man treated her well- even if his car bloody  _broke down_  on New Years and left Rose and her mum to walk home.

 

Even Mickey had disappeared at some point in the ensuing chaotic partying of the pub, and finally Jackie found Rose and tugged her out and away, towards home. They both had work tomorrow.

 

***

 

"Don't be like that, you'll find someone," Rose said gently, grinning at her mum. Right now, everything felt bloody amazing. She was more than a bit drunk, her mind whispered, and she told that voice to kindly fuck off. She'd handle the hangover tomorrow.

 

"Yeah, I s'pose so..." Jackie murmured tentatively, before grinning in sudden joy. "Happy New Year!" she declared to her daughter, grasping her arm. Rose responded in kind, grinning, and tramped off towards the flat, tempting thoughts of tea drifting through her cold mind as she called out an admonishment to her mum not to stay out too late.

 

She was more than ready to get inside by now, and so she was startled when a quiet pained gasp sounded from off in the alley. She turned, startled, to see a man standing there, leaning against the wall, arm around his abdomen. "You alright, mate?" Rose asked cautiously, grinning disarmingly at the strange man. 

 

"Yeah."

 

"Bit too much to drink?" she offered, as the man seemed embarrassed to have caught her attention. 

 

"Something like that," he assured her with a grimace. Then, almost as an afterthought: "What year is this?"

 

Rose turned back, startled but laughing now. "Blimey, how much've you had? January the first, 2005."

 

"2005?" She nodded. "Tell you what, I bet you're gonna have a really great year," he assured, smiling through whatever pained him at her, real joy flashing in her eyes. She turned back, feeling safer than was probably wise with the man's easy nature. 

 

"Yeah?" she asked hesitantly, and, receiving yet another wonderfully warm smile, grinned wider. "Happy New Year," she offered.

 

"And you," he returned with a nod. She smiled once more and hurried inside, much too cold. She didn't look out the window on the stairs; if she had, she might have caught a glimpse of that wonderful blue box that would one day show her the universe. Soon, she thought, tingling under her skin, the promise of that strange, kind man ringing through her. Soon.

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for any typos, it was around three fifty in the morning when I wrote this, so I barely read through it the first time.


End file.
